


The Tenth Circle

by OhDear96



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fixes season 3 ending, Gen, Lots of Hell, No Time Paradox, Please bare with me, Queen of Hell Sabrina, calbrina, don't have the energy for that, kind of, slow burn?, takes place after season 3, we will see what happens, what the heck am i doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:55:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23508742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhDear96/pseuds/OhDear96
Summary: Three years after Sabrina becomes the Queen of Hell and fixes the time paradox Sabrina ventures into the 9th Circle of Hell. She is seeking an old foe, with the hope that he will help her with a ridiculously stupid, terribly complicated plan. Will he be up for the challenge? Whose to say.
Relationships: Caliban (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)/Sabrina Spellman
Comments: 5
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So I have never published a fanfiction before, but I have had this idea for some time and wanted to put it down and see if people are interested. I need more Calbrina content, and I have had a lot of free time on my hands.

Cloak over her head and Salem by her side, Sabrina started her meandering descent through the circles of Hell. 

It had been three years since she won the throne, created a time paradox, a second Sabrina, fixed the paradox, merged her and the second Sabrina, tied up loose ends caused by the paradox all before her 17th birthday. It was an absolute disaster, but she fixed it, like she always does, as in it took the whole coven and multiple outside forces working perfectly. Her 16th year felt like four years in one, and in many regards, it was a year she wishes never happened. Sometimes she stays up at night and thinks about the movie night in October, where Harvey told her he loved her and kissed her on her house steps. If it all ended there, sometimes she thinks things would have been better. She was so happy and innocent, and all of that was gone. 

Harvey and Roz are now going to college together in Rhode Island, Harvey is majoring in illustration and Roz has a double major in theology and mythology. Theo and Robin both went to the state school a few hours away, Theo, on an ROTC scholarship. Prudence and Ambrose were on-again / off-again, and Aunt Hilda and Dr. Cee had gotten married in a beautiful spring ceremony about a year ago. 

Aunt Zelda and Mambo Marie LeFleur were co-running the Academy and expanding it past the Church of Night into other forms of magic. Nick was a teacher at the Academy, focusing on conjuring. Oh, Nick, with his slicked-back hair and dark eyes, tried to get back together with Sabrina, and she wanted to, but the cord-cutting spell did a number on her feelings for him. After telling him of the spell, they decided to stay friends. Nick was now in a witch/warlock throuple and hosted parties at Dorian’s frequently. Sabrina always got an invite, but very rarely did she go.

No, no, Sabrina spent most of her time in Hell. She would remember when Roz told her, “It can’t be all Hell all the time,” and now that was exactly what her life had become. She was allowed to graduate from high school, a deal she struck with her father because “You can’t get a decent job without a high school diploma, and you want me to be Queen?” Lilith stuck up for her as well, which helped. Sabrina walked across the stage at graduation with her friends and got to take photos with her aunties. Those pictures are now prominently displayed all over the Spellman home. 

It helps that time in Hell moves slowly and quickly all at once, giving Sabrina the time to do both high school and high court. 

Sabrina listened to her Mary Jane heels clack on the cobblestones, a sound she loved. Lucifer had the cobblestones “imported” from Jerusalem, the same ones the Nazarine walked on his way to crucifixion. You could not say Lucifer didn’t have a knack for detail. Her father was an interesting Celestial being, and as the Queen of Hell, she decided it would do her good to get on his right side to get him out of her way. Every morning they have breakfast together, he sits and reads all the world's obituaries and drinks orange juice mixed with toothpaste. Sabrina sticks to pancakes and black coffee with two sugars. Sometimes they talk. Most of the time, they don’t. But they have gotten more comfortable with each other. 

Sabrina learned that her father had been present through most of her life, but hidden. He always knew what was going on with her, kept tabs, and a little photo album. Lucifer would say it is because he needed to make sure she was staying on the path of night, but there was a bit more to it. He even attended her graduation in the far back, of course. Sometimes Sabrina would ask him questions about what he did besides drag souls to Hell and have witches pray to the Dark Lord. He actually invented many “hellish” mortal inconveniences, such as only filling bags of chips up ⅓ and the rest being air, creating taxes, and reality television. He did not come up with capitalism, however, and blames that on humanity. “Sometimes, they do evil things to themselves. It saves me time.” 

Their relationship wasn’t great, but it was better. Sabrina let her father make deals with people, buy their souls, drag them to Hell as he pleased (deals could not include anything vile to do with children). She was giving him all the “fun” parts of the job. There was also the issue of sharing with the Church of Night some of Hell’s changes. 

After Sabrina turned 18, she decided she wanted in on the Church of Night, specifically to punish them with her existence as Queen of Hell. She was sick of the misogyny and knew members of the Church were responsible for the deaths of her parents. At this point, Lilith had unfortunately miscarried her and Lucifer's child, and Sabrina saw an opportunity to rebrand the Church. At the yearly meeting of the High Priestess, Sabrina and Lucifer entered unannounced and shared the news of reformation. When the Church prayed to Lucifer, they must now pray to Sabrina and recognize the lost son in their rituals. It is now the father, the daughter, and the unholy spirit. The Church was not keen on the idea, but after some “negotiation,” they agreed. Even Lilith gets prayers as the unholy mother, and that keeps her protected. 

Prayers make Sabrina more powerful. Sabrina studies with Ms. Marie on all forms of magic. With her enhanced skill and strengthened powers, Sabrina is (probably) the most powerful witch currently living. With this power, she protects her friends and family continuously.

So if Sabrina is so powerful, why is she going to the 9th circle of Hell? 

Two reasons: one because she has a crazy plan and doesn’t trust anyone else to help her fulfill it. And two, because she is lonely. 

Her friends are gone, her family is busy. She works and studies full time, and who really wants to become best friends with the Queen of Hell? No one really understands. The thought of fully explaining herself to someone new seems like an exhausting tax for a person who already pushes the construct of time to its ungodly limit. 

Not to mention the constant guilt. Sabrina hears him in most things she does, teasing her, calling her princess. He was such an ass, but he was also kind at times. He helped her. He was willing to leave the earth alone for her. They really did not spend much time together, but gosh did it leave an impact on her. She couldn’t leave him in stone forever, and she never planned to, it was just a matter of when and getting over her fear. 

She is close to the entrance now, and it's cold. Most of the heat from the upper circles disappear once you get this far down. She had ventured down here before, with the idea of doing this, but has chickened out every time. 

“What if he is angry at me? Or doesn’t want to help? Why would he want to help? I have kept him locked in stone for years! This is stupid. Salem, this is stupid. We should go back.” 

Salem walks between her feet. “Okay. You’re right. I can’t keep coming down here without at least talking to him.” 

Sabrina cautiously turns a corner and is officially in the center of the 9th circle, facing the stone she was imprisoned in through the apocalypse and decades after. She pulls back the hood of her cloak and places her bag next to Salem. 

With one last breath, she sways her hand in front of his frozen face.

“Caliban, wake up. Please? Caliban?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabrina and Caliban talk for the first time in years. Lots of confusion, blind agreements, and a little bit awkward. Hope you like it :)

"Caliban, wake up. Please? Caliban?" 

It took him a few seconds, and honestly, he might have been messing with her. But when he did open his eyes, they were staring daggers into hers. 

"Morningstar," His voice was gruff, and his eyebrows were furrowed. He did not look happy, but he was not in rage, which made her feel better, kind of. 

"...hey" Was really all she could say. She felt like an idiot. Salem even meowed. 

"Excuse me, princess, but I don't really know how long I have been here, and I would very much like it if you used your witchy magic to get me the Heaven out of here. Now." 

"Well, okay, I plan on doing that, but I need to know first that you aren't going to hurt me." 

"Hurt you?" Now he looked angry. Oh no. "Why would I hurt you?" 

"Because I trapped you in stone in the 9th circle of Hell?" 

"Yes, I am aware, but to be perfectly honest, I was going to do the same thing to you, so I don't understand why I would be angry with you for beating me to the punch."

"Well, yeah. I know you were." Sabrina said, her eyes looking down at the velvet on her shoes. 

"How did you know beforehand?" 

"You know what… We can talk about that more in-depth later. I will free you under two conditions. That you promise not to hurt me and that you will listen to my reason for letting you go. If you attempt to go back on these promises, then I will put you right back here. Understood?" 

"You're giving me an ultimatum?" 

"Yes." 

"How do you know that you can put me back here, princess?" 

"Because I'm the Queen of Hell." 

Caliban's eyes widened. In their short conversation, he forgot what the prize was. He forgot the competition. She won. How long had he been in here? 

Sabrina looked older than the last time he saw her, the night of the third challenge for Judas's silver. Her hair was a little longer, barely touching her shoulders, and she stood with earned confidence. Still beautiful as ever. 

He remembered when they met, and she washed up with her mortal friends on the beaches of Pandemonium. Sabrina really looked celestial, with her rosy cheeks and platinum hair. She was a vision in soaking clothes. And not at all up for his bullshit. 

Now she stood in front of him, in a simple cloak and her signature "mortal" fit; black turtleneck and red skirt. He wondered how Lucifer, or even the high court, let her get away with dressing how she wanted. But then again, Sabrina had a way of getting what she wanted. 

"So my options are, go with you, my biggest enemy, and risk whatever this scheme is that you are vaguely describing, or stay here forever?" 

"Yup." 

"Okay. I would like to be freed, and I promise to listen to you and not hurt you, princess." 

Sabrina gave a massive sigh. She was going to take him with her, leaving him was never an option. Now that he was awake she couldn't bring herself to freeze him again. But gosh was he a smart ass. Being in such close quarters made her irritated with him as if no time had passed. As much as he irked her, Sabrina had to admit she enjoyed the banter. She kind of missed him, but he would never know. 

With a flick of her wrist, Caliban was standing in front of her. Sabrina didn't forget how handsome he was but damn. Even after three years kept in stone, he still looked sculpted by the Gods. Everything about him just screamed lust. It was distracting. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"Just you know, making sure I got all of you out of the stone…" 

"Sure, sure, and why am I unable to move?" His tone was tinged with agitation. "I promised I wasn't going to hurt you."

"I put you under a little restriction spell. I want to get out of here without being the next one to take your place in stone. As much as I would like to fully trust you, I don't really want to risk going back in there just yet." 

"Princess, that is the second time you have mentioned being locked in stone yourself. Am I missing something?" 

"It's Queen now. Listen, it's a complicated story, and I will get to it. Let's get the Heaven out of here." 

Sabrina walked over to her tote bag and placed Salem gently inside before abling over to the frozen Caliban.

"Did you walk down here? With your familiar?" 

"Yeah, I like the walk through the circles. It calms me." 

And with that flames formed around them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabrina takes Caliban to her version of a "safe house" and he gets the rundown on what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry, it's been a min, quarantine has made me lose all sense of time. I hope you like it!

When the flames subsided, they were standing in her room in the Spellman home. Sabrina let Salem out of her bag, and he hopped up onto his usual spot on the window sill. It was close to the witching hour, and she knew no one was home. Aunt Hilda and Dr. Cee were at a midnight monster movie marathon at the Cineplex, and Zelda and Marie typically spent the weeknights at the Academy. Ambrose was at Dorian's with Prudence, or the Academy with Prudence, or just somewhere with Prudence. 

Her family knew of her plan to bring him here. She wanted to make sure he was safe just as much as her family. Sabrina just hadn't told them she was bringing him there tonight specifically. She would inform them in the morning. Sabrina just didn't know how it would go. She had given them a heads up multiple times that she might be bringing over a fugitive to stay in her room. After the third time, she decided to stop telling them unless she actually did it. 

Honestly? Sabrina was pretty proud of herself that she went through with freeing Caliban this time. There had been so many attempts because she knew bringing him back would throw a wrench in her life. The decision was comparable to picking a college or adopting a dog. Freeing a demon from the ninth circle of Hell and hiding him in your childhood home for fear that if the High Court of Hell finds out either he would be killed or you would be killed for lying or both are in the same vein. 

Sabrina's bedroom was under multiple protection spells. She would occasionally come home on the weekends to be with her family and needed to make sure the house was safe. Being Queen of Hell can get you quite a few enemies. Her room was also soundproof, a leftover from her time with Nick when she was paranoid her Aunties would hear him during his midnight visits. Of course, nothing ever happened between her and Nick, but Sabrina was too caught up in other parts of her life to take the spell down. 

She lifted the spell on Caliban, and the first thing he did was run his fingers through his hair. Sabrina noticed and unconsciously bit down hard on her bottom lip. 

"This doesn't look like Hell," Caliban said, nodding to the moonlight streaming through the windows, the dollhouse in the corner and the polaroids of the Greendale woods and Sabrina's mortal friends on the walls. 

"This is my room in the Mortal realm. This is the room I grew up in." 

"Why are we here? What is going on?" 

Sabrina cleared her throat. There was a lot to unpack. 

"Okay, why don't you sit down so I can explain everything."

Caliban went over to Sabrina's bed and sat at the foot of it. It was a little chilly in the room, and Sabrina registered that Caliban wasn't wearing a proper shirt. It was the leather vest thing he seemed so fond of. 

"Umm, wait a second, you look cold." 

"I can't really get cold, I'm made of clay, remember." 

"Yeah, yeah, I know, just wait a second." She rummaged through her dresser until she found an old t-shirt she borrowed from Harvey her sophomore year. It was a Baxter High shirt he gave her for their homecoming game against Riverdale. Harvey wanted to go, and Sabrina tried to show him that she had school spirit. 

"Put this on, please." 

Caliban's eyebrows raised, "Why do you want me to cover up, my Queen? Am I distracting you?" he said with a devilish grin. 

"Honestly? Yes. Because it is January and you are wearing a leather vest and like, I don't even know what your pants are. Leather? Why? Just put it on so I can get on with what happened." 

The shirt was too tight for him. Of course, it was. 

"Are you ready?" 

Caliban smirked and shook his head in cocky amusement. He was pissed at the beginning, finding out he was trapped in stone and that Sabrina won. Still, the longer he spent with her, noticing her quirks and the blush on her cheeks, the less agitated he became. 

Sabrina cleared her throat. "You have been trapped in stone for the last three years. Before you were trapped in stone, you trapped me in stone with Lucifer and Lilith. You attempted to take over earth but the Pagans defeated you and you died. I was in stone for decades until a version of myself freed me. I went back in time and prevented the Pagans from getting enough power to start the apocalypse. I stopped my old self from giving you Judas' Silver, and then there were two Sabrina's, and one became the Queen of Hell, and the other lived a normal life for like a month and a half. Then the shit hit the fan because of the time paradox I created by accident. Things got fixed. The two Sabrina's were formed into this Sabrina, and I took on full Hell duties, formally started my reformation of Hell, and simultaneously graduated from high school. Any questions?" 

Caliban was bewildered. He died? She was trapped in stone for decades? There were two of her? He was in stone for three years? HE DIED? It was a lot to process. 

"And the Pagans?" 

"I helped my family defeat them while the other Sabrina completed the third challenge." 

"And there were two of you?" 

"For a hot second. It didn't work out." 

"And I died?" 

"The Pagans were very powerful, and you and the hordes of Hell put up a fight, but the Pagans created an army of undead plant people, and there were too many of them. You died on the third day of the war." 

"Wow." 

"Yeah..." 

They sat in silence for a moment. Caliban on her bed and Sabrina pacing in her room, trying to read him. 

Caliban was the first to break the silence. 

"Why did you free me?" 

Sabrina knew he was going to ask this. She didn't know how to fully answer it in a way that would make her look strong. She couldn't tell him she freed him because she was not able to stop thinking about him for the past three years. The crushing guilt of leaving him in stone when his crime was doing what he was made to do, become King of Hell. Sabrina couldn't say it was because she missed him, was lonely, and wanted to spend time with him. She could not tell him he was the only person Sabrina could think of who could relate in the slightest to what she was living. She couldn't say those things. 

Sabrina did, however, have another reason to bring him back. This would be the one she would share.

"I brought you here because I have a plan, and I don't trust anyone to know about the plan or help me with the plan or even willing to agree to the plan. You were the only person I could think of who would even give this idea the time of day." 

"What is it?" 

"I want to rule over the Mortal Realm."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabrina tells Caliban her plan for the future in hopes he hops on board.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you guys like where this is going. I am a bit of a history/theology nerd and some of that is going to start to sneak its way into the story in the next few chapters. This is like the definition of slow-burn so bare with me. Thank you!

"Excuse me?" 

"I want to rule over the mortal realm."

"Rule as in, turn it into the 10th Circle of Hell?" 

"Kind of but not really..." Sabrina paused, trying to find the best words to explain her intentions fully. 

"I want to rule over the mortal realm to ensure protection to those who are vulnerable and protect the people I love and the good things. If I have control over Hell and the mortal realm then I have rule over life and death. Being Queen of Hell has shown me that the current system of who goes to Hell and who doesn't is flawed. Good people get sent to Hell to be tortured, sometimes for reasons out of their control. If I had power over the mortal realm I could help streamline the process, make it more efficient. I could save people from an eternity of suffering, or in some cases, condemn people." 

Caliban, honestly, was not surprised. He had a feeling Sabrina would outgrow Hell due to her restlessness and desire for power; he just did not expect it to happen so soon. She has only been Queen for what? Three years? It took Satan a millennium to develop his plan to bring her into existence. 

"I could protect things that need to be protected and bring justice to people in the afterlife," Sabrina continued. She couldn't gauge his reaction. "Hell and Heaven leave the mortal realm to fend for itself. As my mortal friends get older I am worried about them and what could happen to them because of their relation to me and other people like them. I want to become Queen of the mortal realm, and I need someone to help me because I can't fight Heaven alone." 

"You want to fight Heaven?" Now Caliban was looking at her like she had three heads. It was a lot to process, Sabrina understood that. And saying it out loud for the first time made her realize how big of a task it was. 

"Yes. Well, I want to negotiate with Heaven, and if we need to fight, we fight." 

"And what do you want me to do?" 

"If I become Queen of the Mortal Realm, I want you to take over as King of Hell." 

Now, this threw Caliban off. She fights him and fights him for the throne, and now she wants him to have it? What in the realms was she thinking? 

"It would work well. We would have control over ⅔ of the system." 

"And how do you expect this to work?" 

"I umm, I have been doing some research, and I think it would have to happen slowly. I need help. There are items that need to be procured and power that needs to be gained. I have an outline of what needs to be done more or less. It's going to be a lot of work, and everything will have to happen seamlessly. But I want to fix things because right now the earth is barely functioning and no one is taking control. I don't need humanity to know I am 'ruling' them, but I just want to make sure that things are being taken care of. I want to make things better. And I want your help." 

"Why me?" 

Sabrina paused to consider her response. Why had she chosen him? Politically she wanted him because he was an intelligent source from the inside. Caliban was well versed in combat and military strategy. He cared about Hell and its preservation. Caliban was as willing as Sabrina to get what he wanted; they were equals. All her other relationships were rooted in power dynamics, but her relationship with Caliban was one of equality. 

"I haven't told anyone else.." Sabrina hesitantly answered. "I haven't told Lucifer or my Aunties. Lucifer would use it as a way to take back the throne and my Aunts would try to stop me. I don't want the throne to come into the debate, and I want to gain control gradually so I can show up to court one day and go 'BAM' queen over the mortal realm. Then my reformation would be complete, and Hell would be in the hands of someone who I think could rule it well, you." 

"So basically, you want me to help you take over the mortal realm, negotiate with Heaven and then become King of Hell without telling anyone?" 

"Yes." 

"Okay, I'm in." 

"I know it's a lot, but if you could think it over, maybe… Wait… really?"

"Yes. Do I think it will work? No not really. But with this plan we both get what we want. I become King and you ensure protection for the mortals you care so deeply for. And we become incredibly powerful. I'm in." 

Sabrina was a little surprised that it was that easy, reminding her of her loose ends. 

"Okay, then there are two things we need to go over. First, you can not be seen by anyone outside of this house. I.e., you can't go to Hell unless you are with me, and we are certain you won't be seen." 

"Why?" 

"Because they think you're dead." 

"Oh." He hadn't thought about this. If the Plague Kings found out he was alive after all this time, they would undoubtedly try to punish Sabrina for lying to the court. They would kill her. 

"My Aunties, their significant others, and my cousin Ambrose know you are here. You can stay in my room and spend time around the house but don't go to the academy and don't answer the front door. We need to figure out how to tell people that you are not dead, specifically my father. He doesn't know that you have been in stone. Honestly, he doesn't care too much to check the ninth circle because he says it's too drafty. If Lilith finds out you are alive I am not sure what she would do but I know for a fact that neither of them like you so we would need to come up with a way to tell them before introducing you back into Hell. Because if we don't do it right, he will kill you. Does that work?" 

"So I would stay in your home? In your room? Until you decide to tell Lucifer that you freed me?" 

"Uhhh Yeah. That's the plan." 

"Do you think Lucifer would kill me?" 

"On the spot…" She said it way too casually like she was telling him the day's weather or the latest sports scores. His raised eyebrows clued her into her tone, "but this way, you can stay in the mortal realm and see why I want to protect it. You can get a better understanding of my idea?" 

"That's a far-fetched way to turn this around." Caliban didn't particularly care for mortals; he'd seen them before and was less than impressed. The one who punched him in the jaw in particular left him with quite a sour impression. "Can I make suggestions to the plan as we move forward?" Caliban asked.

"Yes." 

"What is the second part of the agreement?" 

"You and I sign a binding document in blood and clay to say we will not deceive each other, harm each other, or turn our backs on each other. We are in this together. Here, read it over." 

Sabrina had been working on the document for about a year. It wasn't like Caliban's alignment idea he approached her with after the second challenge. This would make them equals and ensure they would not betray each other. If she was going to free him and tell him her plan the least he could do is sign the document. If he said no, if he refused to sign, she would have to come up with something else to do with him. The thought of him saying no gave her so much anxiety that she didn't form a backup plan. Sabrina put all her eggs in one basket. 

Sabrina did not realize how scared she was that he would say no, or just scared about his opinion in general. This was the first time she'd openly spoken about her desire to rule the mortal realm, and Sabrina is so paranoid that her thoughts could be used against her that she hadn't even written them down. If he said no, then the whole idea would be blown out of the water. 

Caliban read the form three times. It would make them partners. They wouldn't be married, but they would be comrades in battle, swearing not to hurt the other person. The document was forged through old magic and witch law. Breaking the agreement would have devastating consequences for them both; he would turn to dust, and she would become fully mortal. The severity of the repercussions showed the seriousness of the deal.

Caliban had to admit, her idea was insane, and he had no idea how she would be able to pull it off. But the thought of working with her on this, gaining all that power, spending time with her, becoming King of Hell, being close to her… It was enough to make him do just about anything. The three years in stone and thousand years buried in Golgotha were long gone from his mind. 

"Let's sign it."

Sabrina grabbed a knife from her bedside table, the same one she used to cut her hand when Ambrose and her extracted Lucifer's essence from Nick. She placed the piece of parchment on her desk, and Caliban walked over. 

"Give me your hand?" Sabrina asked quietly. 

This was the first time they touched since she freed him. The first time they touched in three years. She held his calloused palm facing upward. Caliban gazed down at her, his eyes soft but digging deep. 

There were times during the hunt for the unholy regalia where they would touch, and she would not pull away, but this felt more intimate. The heat between them was palpable. Sabrina's breath caught in her throat. 

"Do you want to go first?" She asked, her tone just above a whisper.

Caliban took the knife out of her grasp and sliced across his palm, the clay dripped out of his hand, and it reminded Sabrina of her ceramics class Freshman year. He took a quill pen off her desk, one she was using to practice her calligraphy, and signed his name in perfect cursive before handing it back to her. She followed his lead and cut across her palm, over old healed scars. She let the blood drip onto the paper and signed her name next to his. 

"It's done." 

Sabrina let out a sigh of relief. It felt like the world was always on her shoulders, but now she had someone in her corner, in a legally binding way, but still. They did not like each other, Sabrina didn't think, but he was willing to work with her. It might be because she freed him, and she wouldn't fault him for that. But she was relieved that he was no longer in stone. She missed him, more than she thought. 

Caliban was holding her hand, wrapping it in cloth so the blood would clot. His touch was so gentle, his fingers lightly tracing her knuckles as he wrapped her palm—the heat of his hand as he applied pressure to her wound. Sabrina looked up at him, and he was staring at her, his eyes soft, but hungry. She didn't want to indulge in the energies being shared between them. He was essentially her business partner now. Sabrina was the first to break eye contact. 

"I think it's time for me to go." 

"You are leaving me, my Queen?" Caliban said in a teasing tone, but his face gave a look of horribly concealed disappointment.

Sabrina shook her head and took back her hand. She sighed as she began to ready herself to leave.

"It would not be proper for the Queen to be found overnight with someone who is supposed to be dead. I also have meetings in the morning, and I can not miss my 6 a.m. wake up call." 

She took out a water bottle from her bag and put it on the bedside table. She knew Caliban was made of clay, but being stuck in stone makes you dehydrated, and she didn't know if the water would help.

"Use the bathroom as you wish and try not to make too much noise before I come back to introduce you to my Aunties formally. And Caliban?" 

"Yes, my Queen?" 

"Thank you."

And she was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caliban formally meets the Spellmans.

"SABRINAAA"

She had barely stepped into the mortuary, and her ears were already ringing. Aunt Zelda was charging through the house, puffing on her cigarette as if her life depended on it. Oh no. 

"I understand that you are the Queen of Hell and have responsibilities, but that does not excuse the fact that it was incredibly rude and irresponsible to leave a MAN in your room and not inform us. We are not an inn for you to leave your concubines Sabrina, I will not have this!" 

"Okay, whoa, first off, he is not my concubine, and secondly, I told you that I would be bringing him here, and he would use my vacant room as a safe house." 

"Darling," Hilda said from around the stairs, mixing a bowl of pancake batter. "You told us you thought about possibly bringing this young lad," 

"Clay demon!" 

"Zelds… you told us you might be bringing him around a while ago. You can understand my fright when I hear rustling from your room this morning and go in expecting to find you, and instead, a shirtless blond man is making your bed. A little warning would have been nice, sweets." 

"A warning is the least you could have done, Sabrina! My goodness, we don't know anything about him or why you want to harbor him in our home."

Sabrina took a deep breath. She felt like she was 16 again and told them she ate a Malum Malus. "I can tell you all you need to know about this situation; it is why I was coming by this morning anyway... Here let's go into the kitchen and…" 

Standing by the kitchen island in a pair of grey sweatpants and nothing else was Caliban. He was eating what looked like ten pancakes stacked high with maple syrup and his mouth full. Some syrup dribbled down his chin, and Sabrina bit the inside of her cheek so hard it bled a little. 

"Goodmorning, Queen," Caliban mumbled with his mouth full, swallowing to reveal a blinding smile. "I heard you all talking about me, and I wanted to see if there was anything I could help clear up?" 

"Oh, there is plenty!" Zelda had calmed down a tad before Caliban walked in, and now she was close to boiling.

"Zelda, it's too early in the morning to be in such a tizzy. Sabrina, darling, sit down, and I will fix you up some pancakes as you tell us what is happening, hum?" Hilda hummed.

That's when Sabrina noticed Ambrose—in his robe with his morning tea, chuckling at the breakfast nook. That must be where Caliban got the sweats; Sabrina remembered he didn't have many clothes except for that yellow t-shirt and jean combo (where he got that she still has no idea) and all the leather vests and Fabio shirts. 

Hilda brought Sabrina a cup of orange juice. Caliban was sitting next to Sabrina so relaxed in the chair it looked like it was his kitchen and she was visiting. Zelda scoffed from across the table and took another drag from her cigarette. 

"I need Caliban for help with a reformation project in Hell. I don't trust most of Hell, but Caliban and I signed a contract in blood and clay, stating we won't hurt or betray each other. I need his help because he has deep knowledge of Hell and its inner workings, and if you ask most demons for information, they want something in return." 

"Okay, but cousin, I thought that the two of you were enemies." Ambrose broke his silence and raised his eyebrows. "I get the signing in blood and clay, how you can't break those kinds of contracts, but how do you know he doesn't want anything from you? Why would you bring back the one person who challenged your leadership?" 

"Because I already gave him something, freedom from stone imprisonment in the ninth circle of Hell, and we are now even. We both wronged each other in multiple ways, but equal times. Here, Ambrose and Zelda, can you two please look over our contract? No one knows which law as well as you two." 

Sabrina pulled out the scroll of parchment Caliban, and she had signed the night before and handed it to Zelda, who slid her reading glasses down her nose. 

"But Darling," Hilda quipped as she placed Sabrina's pancakes in front of her with a jug of Blossom Maple Syrup, "Why does he have to be in our house? Why can he not go back to Hell?" 

"Because when I won the final challenge, I told everyone he was dead, and the court would riot, and Lucifer would kill him if they learned I lied. So I need a safe house for him to lie low until we figure out a way to reintroduce him to the court without either of those things happening, and this is probably the safest house in the world." 

"Very well," Zelda handed the document to Ambrose. "Everything looks to be in order with your contract. It is binding. I approve of it. But if he is going to be living here, I expect him to pull his weight in the house. For example, there are some dead trees in the back that need to be cut down, and I need the porch steps re-stained."

Caliban ate the last of his pancakes and sat up straight in his chair. "I can do whatever you would like, Ms. Spellman," and then he winked at Zelda. Sabrina almost died. Ambrose choked on his tea, and Zelda took a second before she could compose herself. 

"No need for more Caliban. I will leave you a list of items that need to be completed each day. I expect everything to be finished by the time I come home unless already stated. Now if you would excuse me, I need to get to the Academy." 

Zelda swiftly exited the room, and Ambrose got up to join her, but Sabrina stopped him. 

"Hey Ambrose, you haven't told Prudence about this, have you?" 

"About the fact that you have a hotter than Hell clay sculpture living in your room until further notice? No, I haven't. Why?" 

"I don't want her to know," Sabrina sighed and looked down at her feet. She felt ten different levels of guilt trickle down her spine. "I'm afraid she would tell people, tell Nick…" 

Ambrose looked at Sabrina with empathy. Nick breaking up with her, had been hard. Wanting to get back together with him, but the feelings not being there, that had been devastating. Ambrose had seen it all, and his heart hurt for Sabrina. To love someone but to know that that love is not suitable for you, and in this case the world. To love someone and have to walk away. Sabrina would always love Nick but in a different way. She knew this would hurt him, and she didn't want him to find out about Caliban, in any capacity, unless it came from her. 

"Of course, cousin. I know that if members of the Academy or the coven found out it would put Caliban and you at risk. Your secret is safe with me." 

"Thank you, Ambrose." 

He gave her a small smile before going upstairs. 

Ambrose let Caliban borrow some "mortal" clothes for his time in what Ambrose had dubbed the "Spellman-Morningstar Witness Protection Program." Caliban had a more robust build and was quite a bit taller than Ambrose, so the clothes were snug, but he didn't mind too much. 

After she finished her pancakes, Sabrina left for Hell, giving Caliban a collection of books to study. She had some leads on where to start their research on how best to conquer the mortal realm. Sabrina had done a fair share of investigation herself but kept hitting dead ends. 

Sabrina was back at the Spellman house by early afternoon, having completed her daily Queenly duties of meeting with the court, meeting with demons, and dragging one soul to Hell per day. She chose who's soul she took, and would mainly choose people who abused children or women. Something is satisfying about claiming the soul of a person who abused people when looking like the abused. Sometimes she would go in her Baxter High cheerleading uniform. The fear that she sees in their eyes when they realize they are on the other side of the power dynamic is what keeps her going back. She brings justice with each evil she condemns. 

Hell has been running smoothly. The Plague Kings are appeased with her lifting the ban on torture, but now souls are tortured based on the severity of their crimes on earth. For delicate, and morally grey cases, Sabrina is called in to decide how they should be judged. She has also brought psychological torture to the demons playbook; think Batibat. When your soul is tortured the same way for centuries, it gets numb. So let's mix it up a bit, specifically for the warlords and serial killers. 

Lucifer gets to be Lucifer without the paperwork and the board meetings. In return, he leaves Sabrina alone. If Sabrina is ever urgently needed in Hell, Lilith pages her. 

Caliban is in the back of the mortuary, chopping wood. She stops dead when she sees him from the porch. He is wearing the leather pants he had yesterday, and once again, no shirt. He's sweaty and a little dirty, with sweat shining his body and his hair in strands around his face. Every time he swings his ax, he grunts in a profound, infernal way. Sabrina can feel herself sweating under her turtleneck. 

"A Queen needs to show composure.' she thinks to herself, 'And remember, Sabrina, you two were enemies. Just because he looks hotter than an August day in Arizona doesn't mean you should take your eyes off what is truly important here…'

"Good afternoon, my Queen." 

Caliban noticed Sabrina a while ago but kept working, chopping firewood, and watching her out of the corner of his eye. She was biting her lip and hanging onto the porch, railing like her life depended on it. He knew he had a particular effect on her. He thought it was entertaining, how her cheeks would get red and pupils would dilate when she looked at him. He could feel her energy get warmer the closer they were to each other like if he touched her just right, she would burst into flames. 

"Good afternoon Caliban, are you almost done? We have things to discuss." Her voice was calm and composed, soft and direct. Angelic. In Hell, its inhabitants don't sound like that. They sound brutish and shrill, Beelzebub alone sounds like he has been smoking for a million years, and honestly, he has. But the first time Sabrina spoke, it was like peace had finally met Caliban's ears. Lucifer could have the same effect on people if he wanted to. But not Sabrina, she wasn't trying to manipulate or control. That was just how she spoke; it was ethereal. 

They went inside in silence, and he followed her up to her room, which was now his room. It was strange; his home in Hell was all hard edges, stone, and amber. For Caliban, sleeping in Sabrina's room, and Sabrina's bed was different. The soft pillows and quilts, how everything smelled like her; rose water, witch hazel, and burnt red maple.

Laying in her bed the night before, Caliban was jealous that his existence and hers were so different. That she was raised and loved, and he was created with a specific purpose, a role to fulfill. Sabrina had friends and family and experienced love, and he had experienced abuse from some demons and the fulfillment of carnal desires from others. There were no soft beds and pancakes in Hell.

"Okay, um, it looks like you need to shower," Sabrina said without making eye contact. 

"Why? Does my appearance make my Queen uncomfortable?" 

"No, but, kind of. You look a bit grimy. Your hair has all this dust in it, and you might feel better. There should be towels next to the tub. You can use whatever is in there. I'll wait here." 

"As you wish," 

"And please SHUT THE DOOR."

Caliban was jealous, yes, but that didn't change his feelings for her. They were equal. They meet on the same playing field. It was hard to find someone to keep up with him in Hell, who cared about what he had to offer. All the demons knew he was supposed to challenge the throne, but none of them challenged him, at least in the way she did. During the quest for the regalia, he wanted to spend more time with Sabrina, intoxicated by her wit and confidence. He knew she was going to win, not because he thought he couldn't, but because she had already spoken it into the universe. Not knowing her for long, he could tell that once Sabrina made up her mind, there was no going back. 

When she freed him from stone, Caliban sensed an immediate change. Sabrina was more powerful, exponentially so. Power dripped off her being. It reminded him that when they met, she wasn't even close to her full potential, because Lucifer had drained the coven. As the challenges went on, she became weaker, but she fought like she had all the power in Hell. Now he could sense that she had all the power and then some. It made him more attracted to her, more drawn to her. It made him miss her the night before after she left the room, and her heat was gone. When he heard her voice this morning coming from the front door, Caliban felt something inside of him turn, like he was finally awake. 

Caliban emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of fog, his towel wrapped around his waist and resting way too low on his hips. 

She was staring again. He got a kick out of it. 

"Are you okay, Morningstar? It looks like you are deeply contemplating something?" 

"Umm yup I'm fine, thank you very much. Can you put some clothes on, please?" 

"First, the shower, now the clothes, do you think becoming Queen has made you more demanding?" 

"I am going to pretend you did not say that. We have to go over a few things." She pulled out a leather-bound notebook. "I have some leads on where to start our research. I want to first look at Greek, Roman, and Egyptian sources because, as we know, some of the historic idols are still relevant, and the tales of interaction between Gods and mortals could help us formulate our plan. I also want to do some philosophy research; a good recap on ethics would be helpful. From there, we will decide where to take our research and next steps. I want to have a plan in place, at least an outline of our vision for the tenth circle before we find a way to bring you back to Hell."

Sabrina was pacing the room as Caliban changed into Ambrose's hami-down t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops. 

"Once we get you back into Hell and make sure no one tries to kill you, then we can further develop the details of how we can take over… maybe look at the regalia… Um. Oh no, we have to fix this." 

Everything was too small. The jeans were too short. His heel didn't even sit on the back of the flip flops; they hung over like lumber sticking out of the end of a pickup truck. The shirt looked like a crop top that you would wear to a charity car wash. 

"What? Isn't this how mortals are supposed to look?" 

"No, no. Come on. We're going into town."


End file.
